simple, the sublime duties of your profession; setting an example of unaffected regard for those who err, and trying by every Gospel method to bring them to the one, the only, Saviour of mankind. Let this be your song, "Not in the tombs we pine to dwell, Not in the dark monastic cell, By vows and grates confined; The servants of mankind."—WESLEY. "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24, 25.) FROM MANUSCRIPT NOTES WRITTEN IN EGYPT, ILLUSTRATIVE OF MAHOMETAN CUSTOMS. VII. THE FAST OF RAMADAN. CAIRO, September 10th, 1844.-The Turkish month is lunar, and begins on the day when the new moon first becomes visible. The Mahometans expect to see their favourite luminary on Thursday evening, and that will introduce them to the Fast on Friday. September 12th, Thursday.-This is the last day of the month Shaban, the eve of the grand festival of Ramadan; and solemn preparations are made by the Mussulmans for this, their only meritorious fast. The day is consecrated to prayer by the "True Believers ;" and one of our devout neighbours sent for four holy men, or singers from the mosques, to recite prayers and chapters from the Koran before him. They were opposite my window, and attracted my attention by the peculiarity of their recitations and chanting, which is by no means pleasing; their movements, too, are mechanical, and they rocked to and fro in such perfect time, that you might fancy each a human pendulum. These prayers ended at sunset, and the Sheikhs took their leave with evident tokens of satisfaction, and such oft-repeated salaams, as betokened that their employer had paid them handsomely; for such profound respect is only purchased by a liberal bachshish. The Crescent was not seen this night: in spite of all observances, therefore, Ramadan does not begin to-morrow, nor can this be reckoned as the fastday of the month Shaban. September 13th, Friday.-The moon was seen to-night, and greeted with a royal salute of twenty-one guns from the citadel; for the fast is always ushered in by the firing of cannon; and the moment of sunset each day, during Ramadan, is announced by a signal-gun from the fortress. I was much impressed by the solemn demeanour of a native Arab, on catching the first sight of the new moon: he was passing through our garden, apparently absorbed in meditation, when, turning the corner of the walk, he suddenly saw the fair young Crescent. He stopped instantly, assumed the most devout attitude of prayer, passed his hands slowly and reverentially over his face, and, folding them in the form of supplication, he repeated a long prayer; stroked his face again, and then walked away. I once saw a poor woman act somewhat similarly; but whilst repeating her prayer, she took off her silver ear ring, and kissed it devoutly. I do not believe that the worship of the new moon belongs to the Mahometan religion; but it is a superstition cherished among the people, a fragment of Heathenism. 66 September 14th, Saturday.-Fasting in the month of Ramadan is the fourth sacred precept of the Koran; and it is so rigidly observed by the Faithful," among the followers of the Prophet, that they not only abstain from eating and drinking, but also from smoking, and the use of scents, from sunrise to sunset. It is binding both on men and women; but exemptions are made for the sick, and for travellers. Whilst the sun is below the horizon they are allowed "to eat, and drink, and be merry: many persons, therefore, turn night into day, and give themselves up to various excesses in the hours of darkness. But the really devout pass many nights of wakefulness, repeating prayers either at home or at the Mosques; and in reciting to groups of listeners chapters from the Koran : they eat only what nature really needs; and what they can spare they distribute to the poor. All the time of Ramadan, the shops which sell coffee, sherbet, and various eatables, are kept open during the night, and the mosques are all lighted up for prayers. Crowds of idlers are passing every where in pursuit of amusement: for the gay and frivolous now visit and feast together in families; striving, by luxurious indulgence, to while away a portion of the irksome restraint. We have but one Mahometan woman in our service. I make no difference in my household arrangements, to meet the various observances that obtain here; but Latifa has been on pilgrimage to Mecca, and consequently she is a Hagi (holy woman) in her own opinion. When she mentioned the fast to me, I said, "Do as your conscience dictates, Latifa: you have been long enough amongst Christians to know, that the Protestants do not regard fasts as a means of justification; but if your notions of religion demand this sacrifice, make it in a right spirit, and not in mockery." September 27th, Friday.-The sunset-gun, which sent the poor halffamished Mussulmans to their dinner, boomed with deep and impressive tones to-night, in consequence of the density of the atmosphere. There is another sound that falls upon my ear with touching solemnity, in the stilness of the night; the full and sonorous cry that issues from the neighhouring minaret,-the call of the Mueddin to prayer! We often listen in silence, and deep feeling is aroused in our heart of hearts, as call follows call, almost simultaneously, from the numerous mosques, summoning "the Faithful" to fall down and worship God. Monday.-I rose at three A.M., mistaking it for five, and was so busily employed by the light of a splendid moon, that I was surprised, in the course of half an hour, to hear the morning gun, admonishing the fasters to rise and eat their last meal till sun-down. Forthwith, the gardener and his wife, and all the people around our little cottage, were soon astir, discussing their favourite meal of cold bread and milk-pottage. October 3d, Thursday. We were desirous to see the gaiety of the city after dark, during Ramadan: we therefore passed through the principal streets, and visited the great mosques of the Hassagnaim, and El-Azhar. The former, with its lofty minarets, was dazzling to behold; for it was splendidly illuminated. "The Faithful" were at prayer; the recess in which the Koran stood poured forth a flood of radiance, and the whole space of the interior, lighted up from pillar to pillar, presented the appearance of a forest of lamps. There were many Turks and Albanians in this "holy place." The streets were crowded; and the shops that dealt in viands made their best display of cooked meats, fruit, and cakes, tobacco, and sherbet, arrokey and coffee,-because the sun was down. October 13th. And now the guns from the citadel have fired another royal salute, proclaiming the termination of the holy month of Ramadan! This must be a joyful sound,-the music of these same guns,-in the ears of the more rigid Moslems; for it releases them from the abstinence of the fast, and introduces them to the luxuries of the feast,-even the sacred Ee'd-el-Biram. VIII. THE CHIEF LADY OF THE HAREM. November 3d, Sunday.-One or two Mahometan ladies, in their black habras and tobes, have ventured in to our Arabic service. Curiosity has doubtless influenced them; for woman, the offspring of Eve, like her progenitor, will see and hear for herself, whenever she can burst the bars and bolts of the hareem. The ladies who alone have this power, are the aged, and the highest in rank amongst the Mahometans: no ordinary wife durst take this freedom. One of the ladies present this day, is the mother of a large family, living near us; a widow, the Citte Gebeer, who goes in and out at pleasure. Every house has a Citte Gebeer (chief lady): she is generally the mother of the master; sometimes his sister; but never his wife, except she be a branch of the royal family. Thus at the head of the hareem of Mahomet Ali, is Her Highness Nazleh Hanaum, his daughter; and the chief lady of Abbas Pasha's hareem is his mother. IX.-AROOSET-TABLE, OR ARAB BRIDAL-REPAST. The symbolic Arooset-Table consists of two round tables, the upper one smaller than the other, and splendidly inlaid with mother-of-pearl. On this stand are placed "sweets and bitters," as well as "the bread of life; decorated with the choicest fruits and flowers. The table prepared for the Arab bride is as beautiful to the eye as it is poetic in its design. It is ornamented with cut glass, and richly-wrought silver dishes, filled with nuts, almonds, comfits, biscuits, all kinds of pastry and sweetmeats; for it is intended to portray the union of all pleasant things. Then there are the sumptuous coffee fingans, or cups, with glasses for sherbet of all colours, as the fancy may be,-rose, violet, and lemon; and, to make the thing perfect to Oriental taste, it is surmounted by a large bouquet of the rarest flowers ; and, at night, lighted with wax tapers. X.-THE SHEEP FEAST. December 19th, Thursday.—A sacred day with the Moslems, celebrated as the anniversary of the sermon and sacrifice on Mount Arafat, in Arabia. It is called "the festival of the Dehikah." All who can afford it offer up a sheep or a lamb; and it is amazing to see the number of these poor animals which are slaughtered for the benefit of the faith of "the true Believers." The narrow streets were densely crowded, and, in some parts, a regular sheep-fair appeared; while at every few paces we met the mutton-loving Mussulmans dragging along their reluctant victims, who manifested the most rebellious resistance to their master's pious wish for a propitiatory sacrifice. The guns fired a royal salute at sunset. Friday. This is "the great day of the feast," and the day of general sacrifice; being the day on which the universal expiation is offered by the Mahometans on Mount Arafat. The guns on the citadel repeated their royal salute three times to-day; and the festival is more than usually honoured this year, because it has fallen on Friday,—the Mahometan Sabbath. A. L. 293 HISTORY OF THE BULL IN CENA DOMINI.* THE document popularly designated as the Bull Conce, or the Bull In Coena Domini, derives its name from the practice, which is of great antiquity in the Roman Church, of publishing annually, on Maundy Thursday, the anniversary of the institution of the Lord's supper, thence called Dies Coena Domini, certain sentences of excommunication against the enemies of the Roman See and the Roman Church. The document containing these sentences being in the form of a Papal Bull or Letter Apostolic, is accordingly called the Bull Conce, or In Conâ. For the last two centuries and a half it has undergone no change, being republished from time to time by successive Popes, without alteration or addition, and adopted into the body of the Roman canon law, some of the most important principles of which are contained in it. According to the usual manner of citing Papal Bulls by the initial words, the Bull in its present shape is called the Bull Pastoralis Romani Pontificis; but there were other Bulls before it, which, on the same ground as this, namely, their publication on Maundy Thursday, were, in their time, the Bulls Conce, or In Cœnâ. In fact, the Bull Pastoralis is the latest edition of a series of Bulls, issued at different times, and by different Pontiffs, for the excommunication of heretics, for the assertion and maintenance of the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Roman Pontiff, and for other collateral purposes. The different excommunications which are now thrown together into one Bull, were originally scattered through a variety of Bulls, and by degrees incorporated with the Bull published annually on Maundy Thursday. In order to obtain a correct idea of the history of the Bull Cœnæ, it is necessary to trace it through the different transformations which it has undergone; and for this purpose the authentic collections of Roman Bulls, copies of which are extant in the library of the British Museum, have been carefully examined. The collections and editions of the same so made use of, are, 1. The Magnum Bullarium Romanum, edited by Cherubini, and printed, in eight folio volumes, at Luxembourg, anno 1727. 2. The Bullarium Romanum, edited by Cocquelines, printed in fourteen folio volumes, at Rome, in the years 1739-1744. 3. The Bullarium of Pope Benedict XIV., printed in four folio volumes, at Venice, anno 1778. 4. The continuation of the Bullarium Romanum, by Barbéri, of which eight folio volumes, printed at Rome in the years 1835-1844, are accessible to the public in the library of the British Museum. These are the sources from which the following statements are drawn, and by which they can be verified. The first trace of the Bull Conc, discoverable in the Bullarium, is the Bull Fuit Olim, which was published on Maundy Thursday, 1299, in the fifth year of the pontificate of Boniface VIII. Its denunciations, answering to § 7 and § 1 of the Bull Pastoralis, are directed against those who shall supply the Saracens with arms, ammunition, and provisions; and against heretics, for whose discovery, and the extermination of "heretical pravity," it gives stringent directions to the Inquisition. The same Pope published, four years after, on Maundy Thursday, 1303, another Bull, *The following paper forms the introduction to a valuable pamphlet, entitled, "The Bull In Caná Domini," published for the National Club. Hatchard and Son. commencing with the words, Excommunicamus et anathematizamus, which answers to §§ 9 and 10 of the Bull Cœnæ, being directed against those who should molest persons travelling to and from Rome. Another, and considerably enlarged, edition of the Bull Excommunicamus, commencing with the words, Apostolatus Officium, was published by Urban V., in the year 1363, in the first year of his pontificate. Of the additional clauses of this Bull, some refer to pirates; to the imposition of new tolls; to the supply of arms, &c., to Saracens; to the interception of supplies intended for Rome others provide for the protection of suitors in the Roman court, and the inviolability of the Roman territories, answering to §§ 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, and 20, of the Bull Pastoralis. It appears, however, that all these provisions had been previously embodied in certain excommunications, annually published; for the Bull expressly states, that such sentences of excommunication and anathematization were by some Roman Pontiffs, the predecessors of Urban V., published upon certain annual solemnities. Another edition, yet further enlarged, of the Bull Apostolatus, commencing like the second Bull In Cœnâ of Boniface VIII., with the words, Excommunicamus et anathematizamus, was published by Gregory XI., on Maundy Thursday, 1372, in the second year of his pontificate. Two additional clauses were introduced into it: one of these was the clause excommunicating the forgers of Letters Apostolic, answering to § 6 of the Bull Pastoralis; the other was a clause excommunicating heretics, which answers to § 1 of the Bull Pastoralis, and by the insertion of which the Bull Fuit Olim was superseded, both its provisions now forming part of the Bull Excommunicamus. This, no doubt, is the form in which it was annually published, till the promulgation of the Bull Consueverunt, by Julius II., in the year 1511; for no other similar Bull appears in the Bullarium, between 1372 and 1511; and that a Bull containing, "among others," a "public excommunication and anathematization" of all who should hinder the prosecution of suits in the Roman court, "of whatever pre-eminence, dignity, rank, condition, or estate they might be, even though pontifical, kingly, or queenly," was annually published, not only by himself since his accession, but by Innocent VIII., his inmediate predecessor, and by other Roman Pontiffs, his predecessors, is distinctly asserted by Alexander VI., in the Bull In eminenti, issued by him in the year 1502, the tenth year of his pontificate.— See § 1 of the Bull In eminenti, in Bullar. Rom. ed. Cocquel., tom. iii. p. iii., p. 255. This statement of Alexander VI. cannot apply to any other Bull than the Bull Excommunicamus of Gregory XI.; because, while the date of the Bull Excommunicamus proves its publication on Maundy Thursday, there is no other Bull extant in which such an excommunication as that recited in the Bull In eminenti occurs. The Bull Conce, therefore, as it stood up to the year 1511, in the form of the Bull Excommunicamus, differs from its present form in the Bull Pastoralis chiefly in this, that it does not contain the clause forbidding appeals to a future Council, § 2; the clause against plunderers of wrecks, § 4; the clause protecting dignitaries of the Roman Church, § 11; the clauses upholding the jurisdiction of the Roman court and hierarchy, §§ 13—16; and those protecting the rights, properties, and persons of Ecclesiastics, §§ 16-19. With these exceptions, the Bull Excommunicamus of Gregory XI. agrees in substance with the Bull Pastoralis; and like the last-named Bull, it also contains a clause reserving the power of absolution from its censures to the Pope himself. In the year 1511, the eighth year of his pontificate, Julius II. republished |